Claude V. Birkhead letter to Frank M. Rumbold - August 28, 1919
Transcript
[Brigade & Field Officers Association letterhead] Hotel Martinique New York City August 28th, 1919. Colonel Frank M. Rumbold Buckingham Hotel, St. Louis, [Missouri] Dear Colonel: I am enclosing you a tabulation and some notes in reference to matters about which I have already written you. You will, I believe, find a careful reading of this interesting. It should enlist you actively in what Congressman Dent of Alabama says is the National Guard
Transcript
NEW TABULATION 1. Payment from state funds. 2. Present and former officers of the Guard. 3. Public Service Corporations. 4. Manufacturers and merchants. 5. Planters and shippers. 6. Bankers and capitalists in general. 7. A National Guard Day in all churches, and subscriptions. 8. Chambers of Commerce and Rotary Clubs. 9. Civil War Veterans and Spanish American War Veterans. The last named source will probably not bring in very large subscriptions; but a contribution of $5.00 from a Civil War or Spanish American War Post, places that organization in our corner of the lot. Every taxpayer will contribute liberally in proportion to his means, when he realizes that the system proposed by the General Staff will compel him to pay more than double the taxes for the military purposes, than he will pay if the National Guard Association military policy is adopted. National Guard Day should be held in all churches for a great moral issue is involved in this fight. Generally throughout the Country, it means the taking of a boy from his home influences; thrusting him into the Regular Army Military Household, and, at an age when he is most susceptible to temptation, starting him on the road which, to say the least, does not increase the influence of the home; but in the South; a graver problem confronts the people. What would happen if you were compelled by law to have what they have in New York and Illinois, and which appears to be a military asset here, negro regiments. Universal service, under the bill which the General Staff favors, and which it is safe to say at the present time a majority of Congressmen favor (because they do not understand the situation) as will any bill not based upon the National Guard system, would compel every Southern state to place a rifle in the hands of every nineteen year old negro boy in the South. Your state would raise $10,000 for the campaign of education if her citizens understood the situation, rather than have such conditions come to pass.
Details
| Title | Claude V. Birkhead letter to Frank M. Rumbold - August 28, 1919 |
| Creator | Birkhead, Claude V. |
| Source | Birkhead, Claude V. Letter to Frank M. Rumbold. 28 August 1919. Rumbold, Frank M., General Collection. A1331. Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | Letter from Claude V. Birkhead, President of the Brigade and Field Officers Association, to Colonel Frank M. Rumbold concerning the National Guard. Frank Meeker Rumbold served as Colonel of the 128th Field Artillery during World War I. He later served as Adjutant General of Missouri from 1925 to 1927. |
| Subject LCSH | Missouri. National Guard |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I; United States. Army. Field Artillery Battalion, 128th |
| Site Accession Number | A1331 |
| Contributing Institution | Missouri History Museum |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond those allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Missouri History Museum: 314-746-4510 |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. Contact the Missouri History Museum's Permissions Office at 314-746-4511 to obtain written consent. |
| Date Original | August 28, 1919 |
| Language | English |